The immediacy of Obama’s interracial parentage, along with his transnational experience of being reared in Hawaii and Indonesia, by his white mother and her relatives, along with his Indonesian step-father, has imbued his consciousness with a broader vision and wider-ranging sympathies in forming an identity. This in turn enhances his image as the physical embodiment of the principles of equity and inclusiveness. Yet Obama has never said he identifies as multiracial. This was underscored when he checked only the “Black, African American, or Negro” box, rather than multiple boxes, on his 2010 census form. In the media, and more generally, Obama is considered black or African American.

Black History Month is celebrated every February as a time to recognize and honor African-Americans who made great contributions to some aspect of life in this country. Major figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks are often honored, but many lesser-known men and women made impacts on society by working through the channels of academia, breaking barriers for future African-Americans, or creating opportunities for children that they never had before. Here are 50 of those men and women to remember this February…

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 25th, 2012 at 17:05Z and is filed under Campus Life, History, New Media, United States.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.